by J. L. Beck
Adam hadn’t moved or opened his eyes the entire time.
Riley felt so bad. The man may have given his life to find her. She bit at her lip. God, she never wanted him to be hurt.
Grabbing scissors, Harris cut his shirt and undershirt away.
Riley watched with her stomach turning. Blood was everywhere. God, can a person lose that much and still live?
Harris worked silently though he cursed a time or two.
Walker came in and moved her over. He stood next to the table then he began helping. He pulled out a saline drip and injected Adam’s hand with the needle. He hung the bag up on a stand.
Riley was stunned. These two acted like doctors. Would she ever know what all they could do? One was her brother, the other her lover and they held secret lives, secret training. The way they took out those men coming up the mountain. She watched it all like it was a movie on the small screen. Harris was a crack shot and the way he lunged down the rope and back up while carrying full grown men? She had been impressed.
Then Walker, the way he swung that copter to and fro, dangerous moves. Trained to the hilt both of them. Cold as steel doing it too. No fear, no hesitation.
“Dammit,” Walker swore as he looked over at Riley. “This will help him, but he needs a surgeon Ridge.”
Her eyes rounded. “I-is he going to d-die?”
He shook his head. “I’m gassing up the bird. We gotta fly him out of here to an ER.”
Harris nodded as he staunched the blood then checked Adam’s eyes. “You got maybe 30 minutes, then he…” He looked up at Riley.
Her eyes were full of tears. She may have gotten an innocent man killed.
“I got Faulkner in the ice room,” Walker told him.
Harris nodded.
Riley snapped out of her haze. “Ice? You mean you’re freezing him?”
Walker let out a tight laugh. “No, it’s a phrase, like putting him on ice to hold him.”
“What are you going to do to him?” Her eyes swung up to Harris.
His expression looked blank, no emotion. “I will stitch him up and then get him to talk.”
“How?”
Harris shook his head. “Bastard here, remember? You don’t want to know.”
“Okay, getting the little bird ready,” Walker interjected. “Then bring him in about 6 minutes, Harris.” Her brother left.
Harris said nothing as dressed the wound that looked to be very near Adam’s heart. “You will be going with him.”
Her head rose up. “What?”
“Walker has to fly. You need to keep Groves stable…Press his dressing, change his bandages, watch his IV.” The entire time he spoke, he did not look at her.
“Harris—”
He shook his head. “You have to leave.”
Riley bit at her lip. She did. Adam was in this shape because of her. She needed to see this through. She wanted to say something to Harris but he sure didn’t look like he was in a mood to talk. She’d brought a real mess to his mountain—more chaos to his life.
“He will need you. If he makes it. It will be a week before he can even sit up.”
“If?”
He nodded as he moved around the table and injected something into the IV. “A surgeon or surgeons are going to have a helluva time getting this bullet out. It hit very close to his heart.”
Riley trembled.
“Okay, bundle him Harris and bring him,” Walker’s voice came over the com on the control panel.
“Okay Ridge, do you know how to check for a pulse?”
She nodded. “Yes and standard CPR But—”
“Good,” he cut her off and then went to a wall pressing another button. It slid out with shelves full of blankets, sheets and linens. He bundled Adam up. Then went over to the same wall and pulled out a gurney.
“Wow. A full triage unit,” she noted.
“Yes, we were always prepared.” He set the man on it very gently and stuffed in gauze, dressing and pads around the blankets.
Riley watched how very gentle Harris was being. There were sides to this man she never knew was there. She intended to explore all of those in the future. She opened her mouth to tell him she would be back.
“Come on, we got snow in an hour!” Walker again yelled through the control panel.
Walking back over to the small pharmacy, Harris grabbed a small bottle and a needle. “This.” He held it up. “If he goes into cardiac arrest and CPR presses don’t work. Shoot this into his IV.”
Riley felt really scared now. “Y-you think his heart will stop?”
Shrugging, he tucked that in and swung the gurney around through the door. “Anything can happen.”
Riley followed him. She felt like a huge chasm had just opened up between them. He wouldn’t even make eye contact with her. His expression remained blank. Well, he was distracted with trying to fix Adam up, but—
They made it outside. Riley finally snapped to it when the cold hit her face and quickly grabbed the IV bag walking alongside the gurney.
They got to the copter and Harris got in tugging it over.
Riley pushed from her end and Adam was inside now. Small flakes started to come down.
“Let’s do this.” Walker looked back at Harris. “Five-fifty in two.”
Riley looked over at him and then to Harris.
“Five-fifty in two. But seven hundred in three,” Harris replied.
Walker’s mouth fell open. “But Harris—”
“I mean it.” Harris glared at him.
Riley looked back and forth. “What the hell is all that babble about?”
Walker turned his head and gaze to his stick and gauges. “We gotta go, Riley. NOW.”
Harris buckled the gurney to the seat. “Remember Ridge. The IV, pulse, dressings. Every 3 minutes take his pulse. Every 10, check his dressing. Use the needle if his heart won’t start again.” He backed out of the copter and jumped to the round.
Riley felt the chopper move. “HARRIS!” she yelled over the sound of the whirring blades.
He looked up at her his green eyes stormy.
“I will be back!” she shouted over the sound of the blades.
Harris raised his hand and gave her a salute.
He was so tall and commanding still, even from the height of the copter. Smiling, she blew him a kiss. The chopper bumped and she grabbed the IV to steady it. She glanced back up.
He’d already disappeared.
It figures. He was always disappearing. Riley sat next to Adam as tears filled her eyes. A salute? How odd. But he did it instead of smiling. She couldn’t shake the dread inside of her. Harris had just shut himself off from her. More than he had the entire time she’d been here. She wanted to ask what that number coded message meant, but she couldn’t talk to Walker from here and she couldn’t leave Adam at all.
The helicopter rose up.
Riley peered out the widow to see the huge cabin from above. It was far larger than she’d assumed. But the trees all around it hid it well. She remembered Google earthing the place and it was barely there. Now she knew why.
The cabin got smaller and smaller. The white of snow was all around and blurred any images of the ground or trees. Her chest tightened. She felt like a part of her heart had just been cut out. She just felt the loss of being near Harris, right? She loved him, she knew this for sure now. Too afraid to admit it and now, she wouldn’t be able to until Adam was better.
She checked Adam’s pulse. It was weak, but there. Too slow for her liking.
The trip was quick. Adam looked paler by the minute and his bleeding had slowed. She’d wondered if the was a good sign or had he bled out all he could? Fear staked a place in her heart and wouldn’t leave.
Then they landed on the roof of a hospital where there was a flurry of medial teams taking over the gurney and whisking him away.
Riley found herself standing in the waiting room wringing her hands.
Walker put his arm around her.
“I h-hope…” Her voice fell away. She turned her face to his shoulder.
“He’s in good hands, kiddo. We did the best we could.”
Sniffling, she cried. “Why did he come up that mountain?”
“He loves you apparently.”
Riley felt so guilty. She left Adam after that ultimatum he’d given her. Then she never warned him that she might be gone for a while. She’d figured he was so disgusted with her that he wouldn’t even care at that point. She’d been wrong. To put a cherry on top of this sundae of guilt, she didn’t love him back.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Five days later…
Adam had pulled through. He’d remained unconscious for three days. When he awoke, he had trouble remembering very much. He was too out of it and the drugs were fierce.
On day five, he finally awoke in the morning and looked over at Riley. “Tell me.”
Riley sighed and leaned forward. “I found a link to Walker. I headed up that mountain. Men were following me. They shot at me. It must have started an Avalanche and I was buried.”
Adam reached out and grasped her hand.
“I lost my memory for almost a week.”
“Who was the man in the copter?”
Walker had already debriefed her while Adam was out and she knew what to say, “I’m not sure what his real name was. He was part of Walker’s team at one time.”
Adam tightened his grasp. “I don’t want to know any of it. Despite what a badass that soldier in the copter was and dammit, he was. Like…he was like—”
“Call of Duty? Full Metal Jacket?”
Adam chuckled. “Yeah, but not in cinema-graphics, real and live. I never saw a man move like that in my life.”
Riley held still. Like a panther, like a ninja with stealth, belying his large size. She let out a sigh.
Adam went on, “If anyone asks, I never saw him or your brother or that other person. I know this was all something dangerous. I didn’t realize this when I started up that dammed mountain, but I know it now. As you know I am discreet and don’t like poking my nose into things that are better left alone. Unlike you.” He winked at her. “I’m just glad you got your brother back.”
Riley nodded. She knew she was going to have to let him down easy but not today. He was literally down on his back. You don’t do that kind of thing. Kick a man when he was down.
“Riley?”
Raising her head there were tears in her eyes.
“You aren’t taking me back are you?”
Sniffling through her tears, she looked away. She couldn’t do this to him now.
“I would rather have the truth.”
She shook her head.
Adam nodded and he didn’t look surprised. “It’s okay. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I knew I’d already lost you.”
Riley felt tears fall down her cheeks.
The door opened and several people rushed in. Adam’s parents and his sister.
“Oh, baby!” his mother cried. “No one told us till today!”
His family moved in around the bed as Riley quietly stepped out of the circle.
Adam had his eyes on her as she made it to the door, she could feel it. She turned and locked gazes with him. “Thank you,” she mouthed.
Nodding his head and looking saddened, he tried to focus on all the questions, his family kept firing at him.
Riley went out to the hall. Yes, that was hard, but she’d already broken up with the man six weeks ago. He had his family now.
Speaking of family, Walker had disappeared as soon as they announced that Adam would make it. She knew where he’d gone though and she would immediately head there herself.
She had to get to her apartment. Gather her other credit cards, rent an SUV, pack what belongings she wanted with her. She was never coming back, so she had to choose carefully.
During the time she spent in the hospital waiting for Adam to wake, all she thought about was Harris. It was selfish and she knew it. After what happened to Adam, but she couldn’t help it. The way Harris had acted the entire time he’d taken care of Adam. It bugged her. Like he was shutting her out then the salute felt like he’d been saying goodbye? But why?
She got a cab and rushed across town.
It felt surreal when she arrived at her apartment building. This life she’d lived here had been a lifetime ago, it felt like her world before meeting Harris was nothing now. Unimportant.
She walked up to her door. Pausing, she realized, she had no key on her. She would have to find the super. She stood in the hall and felt odd for a moment. Walking closer, she could see the door to her apartment was ajar. She sucked in a breath. Moving quietly, she crept up and peeked in. Her eyes widened.
It was trashed. The couch was turned over, the cushions torn open. Her eyes moved over the floors, papers were scattered everywhere. Someone had been looking for her or looking for information. She wondered when this had happened or if the person was still here.
Riley pushed the door open but stood in the hall in case there was someone still in there. She swung her gaze over the room. Her fish tank was on the floor, her fish dead, and the water dried up. So, it wasn’t recent. Dammit, they’d killed her fish and she felt sure they would have killed her had she been home too. Tears filled her eyes, she’d planned to give the fish to her old lady neighbor, Ms. Tilly who would have loved them and had been feeding them for her while she’d been gone.
Gingerly stepping in, she looked around. She listened to see if there were any sounds.
Nothing.
She shut the door behind her in case a neighbor happened by. She wouldn’t be able to explain this away easily and she didn’t want any cops here.
“God…” Stunned, she around at the destruction as her stomach churned. It had to be Falkner’s men. Before they followed her up. Or before they followed Adam?
She tried to console herself. So what? Her life was done here now. Still, if she left this mess and someone came along, like her super…they would call the cops and she would be reported missing.
Sighing, she felt disappointed. It’d been almost six days since she’d left Harris on that mountain. Would he think she wasn’t coming back at all? She shook her head. No, he said he knew Adam would need her for at least a week.
First, she needed to rent a car. She looked around for her laptop.
Smashed on the floor by the patio window.
“Those fuckers!” Sighing, she grabbed the phone and dialed information. After fifteen minutes with a rep, she had the rental. She had an account at several rental places as she took trips for stories on a constant basis and they had her card info.
With this done, she went to the kitchen and got the trash bags out. Picking up everything that was shredded, torn or ruined, she cleaned and cleaned for two hours.
Worn out and thirsty, she headed to the fridge and opened it. Just eggs, butter, a block of cheese that had seen better days and…a bottle of orange juice. Tears filled her eyes as she grabbed it. The date was still good. She wished she had one of Harris’ screwdrivers at this point.
She had already righted the couch, but the cushions were ripped. Shrugging, she sat down anyway and opened the bottle. Chugging it down, she was making a mental list of what clothes, pictures and stuff she would take with her.
Her phone rang and she jumped from the couch in a panic. Releasing a breath, she grabbed it while rolling her eyes.
“Sis?”
“Walker?” she replied.
“Yes, who else would call you sis? You got some other sibling I don’t know about?”
She smiled at his usual smartass personality. “Where have you been?”
“I had messes to clean up, remember?” he quipped.
She thought of the carnage on the mountain. “Okay, well so did I.”
“What?”
“My apartment has been trashed.”
Silence.
“Did you hear me?” she asked.
“Are you o
kay?” His voice held a growl in it.
“Yes, but my stuff isn’t.”
“The perps aren’t still around?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, I’m feeding them pizza as we speak, dumbass.”
“Cute, Riley,” he snipped.
“Pisses me off cause I had to stop and clean all this shit up before I can leave.”
Silence.
“Walker?”
“Leave to where, Riley?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes again, took a sip of her juice and answered, “Up the mountain.”
Silence.
“Walker? What the hell is the matter with you?”
“Listen, Riley…I’m almost to town and I will swing by and help, K?” He hung up.
She pulled the phone away and stared at it like it was something alien. Now, she remembered her brother all too well. Living a life, he could never talk about. Giving cryptic answers to any questions, she had. After meeting Harris, she understood more now about what they did and why they did it. Still, he could be an ass, her brother. She smiled. She loved the asshole anyway.
Setting the phone back in its cradle, she headed to her bedroom to get a suitcase. This time, she would have underwear, though she doubted the man would let her wear any. She snickered as she stopped and rubbed the goose bumps from her arms her heart beating rapidly. God, she couldn’t wait to see him.
After an hour of packing, she felt she was ready. Looking up from the dresser, a man stood in the doorway. “OH!” She jumped with a start.
Walker walked in from the darkened hallway. “It’s me, Riley.”
“Shit! I remember it now. You are just like Harris!”
Walker slowed his walk. “I am not.”
“Yes, the sneaking up on people. The appearing and disappearing! It’s fucking spooky!”
He laughed. “Okay well, it’s in our training. We might always be that way.” His expression sobered. “Riley, I have to talk to you.”
She shut the empty drawer. “Well, make it quick, I have to leave soon.” She went over and zipped up her suitcase.
“He’s gone.”
Her eyes slowly rose up from the suitcase to his somber face. “What?”
“Harris. He’s gone.”